Czech press survey - October 12

Regional elections have never been held in such a stormy atmosphere, Jiri Leschtina writes in Hospodarske noviny.

Some say that Prime Minister Petr Necas's fate is linked with their outcome and perhaps early elections may be prompted by them, Leschtina writes.

But still the voters should keep cool heads, he adds.

Above all, they should decide on the basis of their four-year experience with the regional governments that were not only headed by Social Democrats, but sometimes also members of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and Communists were in them, too, Leschtina writes.

Now, there is an experience with the Communists in the governments formed by tacit coalitions, he adds.

Has anyone recalled the Communists having stood up against fraudulent public procurement and overpriced public tenders? Leschtina asks.

This has never happened. With a Bolshevik fervour, the comrades have co-existed with the corrupt environment, he adds.

The general trend is obvious: although Social Democrats are leading in the polls, the margin is not big and their ability to form governments in the regions will be limited, Martin Komarek writes in Mlada fronta Dnes.

Social Democrat leader Bohuslav Sobotka would like to repeat the landslide victory from 2008 and to turn the regional elections into a national vote on Prime Minister Petr Necas's unpopular government, Komarek writes.

Will he succeed? This is the crucial question, he adds.

Maybe partly he will, but he will not succeed as decidedly as four years ago, Komarek writes.

Whatever the outcome of the regional elections, party leaders are already worried, Martin Zverina writes in Lidove noviny.

Necas will assure his fellow party members that the party's unity and support to the government are the best things they can do for their future, Zverina writes.

Necas will claim that halfway through the government's term of office, one can expect some losses, he added.

Sobotka will play down the results of the rival Zeman's party, while party unity will be also highly stressed, Zverina writes.

Perhaps he will even have the billboards pasted claiming that he is not afraid of Milos Zeman, he adds.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz